man, about forty years of age, went on board the Fly steamer, belonging to the Black Funnel Company, at the Tunnel-pier, Wapping, and directly afterwards discovered that the vessel was going to London-bridge instead of to Greenwich, to which place he intended to proceed. Just as the boat was starting he attempt ed to jump on to the pier, but his foot slipped, and he fell into the water between the Fly and the floating pier. Immediate assistance was rendered by the people on the barges, the watermen, and others, and in a few minutes the man was taken out of the river by the drags, and was conveyed to the Ship-tavern at Execution-dock, where he expired about a quarter of an hour afterwards.

EXTRAORDINARY TRIAL. The following singular case, which, we believe, is the first of the kind that has ever been tried in a court of justice, either in this country or America, has been heard in the United States Circuit Court, at Philadelphia. The prisoner, A. W. Holmes, one of the crew of the William Brown, stood charged with murder on the high seas. The vessel sailed from this port for Philadelphia on the 12th of March, 1841. On the night of the 19th of April, when about 250 miles from Newfoundland, she struck, as is supposed, on an island of ice, and sank in an hour. Thirty-one persons, who had remained on board, perished. Of the remainder of the passengers and sailors, forty-two had got into the long-boat, and the captain with eight of his crew and a passenger were in the jolly-boat. On the following morning the boats separated to make the best of their way to land, and so crowded was

the long-boat, that the mate, at parting, said to the captain that he saw no alternative for them but to cast lots who should be thrown over. Although the sea was calm, baling was constantly necessary; but at night the wind freshened and the rain was violent; the boat leaked, and the waves were dashed into it, so that, according to the witnesses for the defence, the danger was great and inevitable, although those for the prosecution did not believe it to be imminent. It seems, however, to have been admitted on all hands (at least it was not denied by the witnesses for the prosecution) that the boat was sinking, and that the gunwale was within two inches of the water's edge. In this extremity, the awful expedient of lightening the boat by the throwing over of passengers was resorted to, and on the following morning two others were thrown over, but by whom does not appear to have been satisfactorily proved, some swearing that it was one individual, some another. The case was warmly argued on both sides, the prosecution contending that no case of inevitable necessity had been made out, and that the law applied only to cases much more extreme than this. The defence alleged, that they had fully established a case of inevitable necessity, and there was every presumption to believe, that if they had not resorted to the melancholy alternative of throwing some overboard, they would all have inevitably perished. Here the case rested, when the judge charged the jury that the obligation of the captain and crew to carry the passengers safe extended even to a case of such imminent peril, and they were bound to sacrifice their own lives, if ne

cessary, for the preservation of the rest. The jury, after a consultation of twenty hours, found Holmes guilty, but unanimously recommended him to the mercy of the court. Judge Baldwin said, that their recommendation should have the most respectful consideration.

SUICIDE FROM JEALOUSY.To day an inquest was held before Mr. Baker, at the Adam and Eve Tavern, Homerton, on the body of Mary Ann Anninge, aged twenty-five, who committed suicide. William Carter said he lived at Barber's nursery. Deceased was his fellow-servant. On Friday night last, the 13th instant, about eight o'clock, he met deceased walking with a young man in the Lea-bridgeroad, and shortly after in the Greyhound public-house drinking half-a-pint of ale by herself. He heard her ask if she could have a bed there, and the reply being "No," she said she would not go home, for her sister had behaved badly to her, and ruined her peace of mind for ever, as she had been out the whole day in company with the young man who was to have married her (the deceased). She walked with witness for some distance, and said she would go back again and ask the landlady to let her have a bed. He followed and overtook her going in the direction of Lea-bridge, near which he stopped her. She then said she should go to Hoxton to sleep. She appeared much agitated, and he endeavoured to soothe her, when she promised to go back to the Greyhound if witness would not follow her. At her desire he left her, and had not gone far, when he heard a plunge in the water. He called a police man, and they ran together to

wards the bank of the river Lea, but in their progress fell over a lime heap, and were nearly blinded and suffocated. They found the deceased's bonnet and shawl on the bank, and having procured the drags got the body out in about twenty minutes, and Mr. Fountain, surgeon, endeavoured to restore animation, but without effect. He had no doubt jealousy at the conduct of her sister, was the cause of the deceased committing the rash act. Verdict "Temporary insanity."

19. A ROBBER EXTRAORDINARY.-Between two and three o'clock, before daybreak this morning, a servant in the employ of Mr. F. J. Arnold, of Peterboroughhouse, near Hornsey, aroused his master with the information that he (the servant) had heard footsteps passing along the gravelwalk, near to the window of the pantry, and that some one had shaken the shutter of his room window. Mr. Arnold immediately arose, and, telling the man to awaken the coachman, he armed himself with a brace of pistols, and, accompanied by his two servants, left the house by the back door, and proceeded cautiously to the front of the mansion, where they distinctly heard a rustling among the branches of the shrubbery, as though persons were making their way through the trees. Mr. Arnold called out to the supposed robbers to stop, or he would fire, merely intending to intimidate the fugitives by the threat, and was in the act of rushing forward, when the pistol he held accidentally exploded, and a loud groan proceeding from the shrubbery gave token that the shot had taken effect. On the party reaching the spot they dis

covered, instead of a wounded twolegged midnight marauder, a couple of four-legged intruders in the shape of a mare and her foal, in the former of which the shot had taken fatal effect, the poor beast being in its last struggles. The animals had doubtless effected an entrance into the shrubbery from the adjoining lane on the previous day whilst the gates had been left open for the egress of the carriage, and so remained unobserved by the servants. Mr. Arnold generously remunerated the owner of the mare, a poor market gardener in the neighbourhood, for his loss.

19. MELANCHOLY AND FRIGHTFUL DEATH.-A melancholy and fatal accident occurred this morning to the eldest son of the Lord Chief Justice Pennefather, at Brayhead, near Dublin. The unfortunate young gentleman, who was approaching his 17th year, left his father's residence, near Bray, about half-past eight o'clock, accompanied by a younger brother, in order to enjoy the pleasure of a morning walk, and when on Bray-head his hat was blown off by a gust of wind which suddenly sprang up from the land. While in the act of seeing where it was blown to, and approaching for that purpose too near the precipice, it is supposed that either his foot slipped or his head became giddy, but he was precipitated down the fearful abyss, and killed on, the spot. On his being taken up a wound was found on the left side of the forehead, which completely exposed the brain, so that life must have been extinct before he reached the bottom. This young gentleman, we understand, was a youth of great promise, and beloved by all who knew him. He was intended for the bar. An inquest was held,

and a verdict of "Accidental death" returned by the jury.

21. EXTRAORDINARY SUICIDE ON CROYDON COMMON. - Early this morning the town of Croydon and its vicinity were thrown into a state of great excitement by the discovery of the dead body of a young man, respectably attired, lying on the common under circumstances which leave no doubt of his having committed self-destruction. It appears that between eleven and twelve o'clock last night the report of fire-arms was heard repeatedly by persons residing in the vicinity of the common, and though the circumstance, at that hour of the night, excited some surprise, no attempt was made at the time to ascertain the cause. This morning, about six o'clock, as a bricklayer's labourer, named Ryan, was going to work, he discovered lying on the grass, the corpse of a man, with a pistol at his side, and his head almost literally shattered to atoms. Information was immediately given to the police, and the corpse was conveyed to the Mailcoach public-house. In one of the coat pockets was found a book, entitled, Remarks on the Influence of Mental Cultivation and Mental Excitement upon Health, recently published by Dr. Bingham. The leaves and binding were perforated by pistol bullets in several places. On a blank leaf at the end of the book was some writing in pencil, betokening that the writer laboured under great dejection of mind, and ending with the following declaration:"Because of not knowing how to make better use of my brain, I have come here to shatter it."

ship Georgia, of Newcastle, an Indiaman, Captain Mitchell, bound to London, has been received in this country. This ship was of between 800 and 900 tons burthen, and was valued at 7,000l., being splendidly fitted up for the accom.modation of passengers. She had a rich cargo on board, consisting of jewellery, merchandise, and other valuable property, which perished with the vessel; a loss in total of nearly 20,000. The unfortunate event occurred on the morning of the first of April, while on her passage to England from Calcutta, which place she left in the early part of February. It appears that early on the morning mentioned, the "watch" on deck, when the vessel was in latitude 30 south and longitude 36 east, off Madagascar, discovered a strong smell of burning about the ship; he aroused the commander, Captain Mitchell, and the rest of the ship's crew, and a strict search was determined upon. On the boats being removed, and the main hatches taken off, the burning was found to proceed from the cargo, when orders were given to remove a portion of it, so as to get at the fire. The crew, however, had not proceeded far before a volume of smoke burst upon them, and shortly afterwards it became so intense, accompanied with excessive heat, that they were forced to desist. Captain Mitchell then had the hatches replaced, and blocked up every aperture in the ship, in the hope of stifling the fire. But this proved unavailing, for, in about two hours, the flames broke through the cabin windows, and likewise from the hatchway over the forecastle to the terror and dismay of all on board. Captain Mitchell, perceiving that the de

struction of the vessel was inevitable, directed the crew to prepare themselves to leave the ship, which they immediately set about doing by lowering the boats (two in number) over the vessel's side. It was a most trying moment, for the sea was extremely rough, with a heavy gale of wind; and, with a knowledge of their being between 800 and 900 miles from land, every soul expected to meet with a watery grave. At about three o'clock the chief mate, with nine of the crew, left the burning vessel in the jolly-boat; and they were directly followed by Captain Mitchell and the rest of the ship's crew, four in number, in the small boat. In the course of a quarter of an hour afterwards the work of devastation had reached the masts, and she appeared embodied in one mass of flames, forming a terrible, though magnificent appearance. At this critical period a vessel was observed at a distance, bearing towards the ill-fated ship, and the chief mate turned to make known the joyful intelligence to Captain Mitchell and the rest of the crew, when he was horror-struck on finding that the boat had foundered, and none of them were to be seen. They rowed about in hopes of picking them up, but unfortunately none of the poor fellows ever rose after. The ship Thomas Sparks, which proved to be the vessel they saw bearing down to their assistance, came up alongside soon afterwards, and took the chief officer and the rest of the Georgia's crew on board, and they remained within a short distance of the burning ship until she went down, which event took place at a late hour in the afternoon.

23. MELANCHOLY OCCURRENCE. CHESTERFIELD.-This evening

the peaceful and romantic village of Ashover, about six miles from this town, became the scene of a most deplorable and heart-rending tragedy. Mr. Richard Eaton, a gentleman in independent circumstances, about sixty years of age, in loading his gun in the house to go in pursuit of a mad dog, accidentally shot his son, a youth about sixteen or eighteen years of age; and immediately after, in the phrenzy of the moment, took a pistol and shot himself through the head, and fell dead upon the spot. The gun was loaded with slugs, and its contents first struck the young man's arm, and after passing in an oblique direction and shattering the bone entered his side. He instantly dropped, but he did not expire till about seven o'clock this morning. On seeing his son fall the father was seized with an agony of grief, and exclaimed, "My dear son! what shall I do? what shall I do? my dear, dear son!" He took a loaded pistol, rushed out into the garden, applied the muzzle just below his right ear and fired, when the bullet, after penetrating the head, passed out a little above the left ear, causing instantaneous death. Inquests were held over the bodies before Mr. Hutchinson, the coroner for the hundred of Scarsdale, and verdicts returned to the effect that the son was accidentally shot, and that the father put an end to his own existence in a fit of phrenzy consequent upon the previous accident.

BURNING OF RILEY-HOUSE AND LOSS OF LIFE.-A dreadful fire broke out at the village of Hinnock, in Devonshire, this afternoon, which occasioned the total destruction of Riley-house. an elegant seat in the occupation of a gentleman named

Weekes, and attended, with loss of human life. It was built upwards of a century ago, and was approached by a spacious court yard. Immediately in the rear was the farm, which covered a large space of ground. At the time of the commencement of the fire, which was about half-past four o'clock in the afternoon, Mr. Weekes and his family were out on a visit, leaving two female servants in care of the premises, and they, it appears, were first alarmed by flakes of fire falling down the flue of the diningroom chimney, where there was no fire. They immediately proceeded to ascertain the cause, but were unable to do so for nearly an hour, when hearing a crackling noise in the upper room, they became alarmed, and called in a labourer, who was at work in one of the neighbouring fields, and on his proceeding to the uppermost apartments he discovered the flames breaking through the ceiling. He directly obtained several buckets of water, and made great efforts to stop the fire spreading; but it had obtained an alarming ascendancy, and soon made its appearance through the roof. Upon the fire being observed at Hinnock a great number of persons hastened to give assistance, and the chief constable started off on horseback to South Bovey, a distance of five miles, for the fire-engines, which were got ready with the utmost alacrity; but long before they reached the spot the terrible conflagration had spread over the entire premises, and one poor fellow had perished in the flames in consequence of the floors giving way upon him while in the act of saving some valuable property. There were many others with him at the moment, but they contrived to escape by leaping out